Posted tagged ‘Depths’

The newest collection of Gail Simone’s twisted super-villain series, Secret Six, is the first misstep she’s taken since writing the first mini-series featuring the characters. Her grasp of the characters is as strong as ever, and the first two issues in this collection, which are both one-off tales, are excellent. However, the main story in this volume is a ill-conceived team-up with Wonder Woman, which pretty much just exists because Simone was also writing that book at the time.

The Six are hired by a group who has forced a band of Amazons into slave labor in order to construct the world’s greatest prison. What exactly the six are hired to do, is never really explained, nor is it explained why the would be warden has made a deal with Grendel. Then there’s the problem that Wonder Woman and the Six don’t mesh together at all. Oh and there’s also that this makes back to back stories in which the Six turn on one another and then somehow make up afterwards.

The book’s almost worth it for the first issue, being the most awkward date comic in history, but the rest is just a mess.

Concrete is one of those books that every self-respecting fanboy is obligated to read eventually. Paul Chadwick’s reputation was made on the series, which was one of the highlights of Dark Horse Presents, along with other works like Frank Miller’s Sin City. But somehow I’ve never read it until now, and I’m very sorry for that.

Concrete is one of the best post-superhero stories I’ve ever read. The protagonist is a former sentatorial speech writer who gets turned into an neigh-invulnerable rocky beast with fantastic eyesight. However, this is a real world story. No villains, no battles, no real need for someone with Concrete’s (aka Ron) abilities.

Unable to think of what to do with himself, Concrete goes on the Late Show and asks for suggestions. And so he finds himself helping explore the oceans, searching for lost hikers, and bodyguarding a rock star. Each story is a stand alone tale, and all of them are fantastic! Concrete is a deeply simpathetic character, tragic but never morose. Instead these are stories about someone who always wished he could lead a life of excitement, finally given the means to do so.

It’s an approach that is disapointingly unique in comics, but fortunately Chadwick has filled that void. Highly recomended.